1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to rope climbing apparatus and particularly to rope climbing apparatus using endless ropes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Climbing ropes have been a part of fitness gyms for many years. Rope climbing is an excellent exercise for the wrists, hands and upper body. Traditionally, these ropes have been long (20 foot) lengths of rope that were suspended from a gym ceiling. There are two problems with the traditional fixed rope as an exercise tool. First, there are few buildings used for gyms today that have high enough ceilings. Second, a 20-foot length of rope does not provide enough sustained effort to enable someone skilled in rope climbing exercise to receive a sufficient workout. Once a person has reached the top of the rope, he or she must descend before he or she can climb again.
To overcome these difficulties, endless rope exercise machines have been invented. These devices use a frame, an endless length of rope and a means of resistance to simulate actual rope climbing. Such machines enable a user to “climb” a rope for as long as the user's stamina permits. U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,574 discloses a portable rope climbing exercise apparatus that has a frame, a series of pulleys supporting a rope, and a hydraulic brake system to provide resistance for the rope. Although this system allows a climber to climb continuously, it has three main drawbacks. First, it requires the user to stand up to use the device. That means the device must be at least 8 feet tall or more. This again limits its use to only large rooms. Second, the frame of the device extends forward from the user. The rope travels up an inclined frame member. As a result, the bulk of the frame and mechanism require this device to be placed away from a wall. This again means that the device is limited to large rooms and is not suitable for modern compact gyms. Finally, the rope hangs vertically in front of the device and extends down to the frame (just above the floor). It loosely passes through the frame and back up to the top. Because of this, a tripping hazard is created where the rope meets the bottom of the frame. A user's foot can easily become entangled in the rope, or can create a twisting hazard with the rope. U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,234 also discloses an endless rope-climbing machine. This machine eliminates two of the drawbacks of the first device. First, the frame is compact and mounted to a wall, making it more suitable to small gyms. Second, the rope does not extend to the floor, thus eliminating the tripping hazard. It does have the limitation of being used while standing, which limits it again, to larger rooms. This device also has other problems. It has a pivoting feature that allows the unit to be rotated for certain exercises. Although this may seem to be more versatile, it requires the frame to be very heavy to support the pulling force and movements caused by changing the position of the frame. Second, the frictional braking system is relatively simple and does not provide dynamic resistance. It is a system of screw-adjustable friction pads. While useful, these pads do not provide the range of resistance a hydraulic braking system can provide.